A.J. Hackett Bungy sales manager Regan Pearce takes a
hurdle during the 2012 Drag Race at Earnslaw Park, part of
the Queenstown Winter Festival. Pearce's next challenge
will be caddying for the world's top women's amateur
golfer, Lydia Ko, at the New Zealand PGA Championship at
The Hills next month. Photo by Tracey Roxburgh.
A Queenstown personality will caddy for the world's top
women's amateur golfer at the New Zealand PGA Championship next
month.
Fifteen-year-old Lydia Ko - who at the weekend became the
first New Zealander to win the New Zealand Women's Golf Open
- has chosen A. J. Hackett Bungy sales manager Regan Pearce.
Pearce, who captained the victorious Wakatipu Premiers rugby
team last year, said the invitation came after they met
during last year's inaugural championship at The Hills, near
Arrowtown.
''She came out to the Kawarau bridge to do a bungy jump and I
hosted her,'' Pearce said.
''After the tournament, I said, 'Look, if you ever need
anyone to carry the bag for you, I would love to do it'.''
Lydia Ko and her caddie, Guy Wilson, at last year's NZ PGA
at The Hills. Photo supplied.
Pearce, a former sales representative for Queenstown
Times, said when an invitation came from Ko's mother, Tina, two
months ago, he thought a work colleague was playing a joke on
him.
Once he found out it was true, ''I was extremely humbled''.
''It's not every day you get to caddy for someone of her
calibre. This could be a career change for me.''
Pearce said he enjoyed his golf but admitted he was a novice
caddy.
The Women's Open win was Ko's third professional victory
following her success in last year's New South Wales Open and
Canadian Open.
- Philip Chandler of Mountain Scene.
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